1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to computer networks and, more particularly to wide area networks such as the Internet.
2. Background Art
The origins of the Internet date back several decades to a U.S. government sponsored military/educational/business wide area network (WAN) that was designed to remain operational even in the event of the catastrophe, e.g. a major earthquake or a nuclear war. To accomplish this goal, robust protocols and systems were developed which allowed a geographically distributed collection of computer systems to be connected as a WAN such that the loss of a particular computer, or group of computers, would not preclude the continued communication among the remaining computers.
While the use of the Internet has been prevalent for many years now, its use has been limited by the arcane and difficult commands required to access the various computers on the network. To address this problem, a protocol known as the “World Wide Web” or “WWW” was developed to provide an easier and more user-friendly interface for the Internet. With the World Wide Web an entity having a domain name creates a “web page” which provides information and, to a limited degree, some interaction with the entity's “web site.”
A computer user can “browse”, i.e. navigate around, the WWW by utilizing a suitable web browser and an Internet service provider. For example, UUNET, America Online, and Global Village all provide Internet access. Currently, the most popular web browser, known as the Netscape® Navigator® is made by Netscape Corporation of Mountain View, Calif. The web browser allows a user to specify or search for a web page on the WWW, and then retrieves and displays the home page of the desired web page on the user's computer screen.
While the Internet, in general, and the World Wide Web, in particular, are extremely popular, the computer apparatus typically used to access the services is quite expensive. For example, a contemporary Pentium® or Macintosh® computer system capable of running state-of-the-art web browsers costs many thousands of dollars. There are many potential users of the World Wide Web and other Internet services who simply do not wish to pay that much for access to those services.
To partially address the cost problem, at least one company has announced a “Web Appliance” which permits web browsing when coupled to either a television receiver or to a computer monitor. More particularly, Japan Computer Corporation, USA (JCC) announced in a news release entitled “JCC Announces ‘Web Toaster’ and ‘Web Copier’ Home/Office Universal Internet Access Devices” on Feb. 20, 1996 that the iBOX Communicator series would be demonstrated at the Email World, Web World, and Internet Expo shows at the San Jose Convention Center on Feb. 20-21, 1996. However, both the Web Toaster and the Web Copier still cost many hundreds of dollars, and must be used with other expensive equipment such as a television receiver or video monitor. Therefore, a user must still invest in hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of hardware and software in order to access the World Wide Web and other Internet services when using a Web Appliance.
In a news release dated Mar. 4, 1996, downloaded from the WWW on May 1, 1996, NetPhonic Communications, Inc. announced “Web-On-Call Voice Browser” which reportedly will be able to access certain Web documents with a touch-tone telephone, cellular telephone, or facsimile machine. The browser reportedly uses text-to-speech technology that can play back Web documents over the telephone. It is also said to “support documents retrieved via fax, e-mail and postal mail service.” The Web-On-Call Voice Browser was said to be available in “mid-1996.” The news release reported that “NetPhonic Communications will be demonstrating Web-On-Call Voice Browser in Booth #2027 at Computer Telephony Expo 96 at the LA Convention Center in Los Angeles Mar. 12-14, 1996.”
A reading of the NetPhonic materials, downloaded from the WWW, reveals a database management system that runs on a web server. More specifically, the software                “turns a Web document database into a ‘Unified Information Store’ that serves as the single repository of information to be distributed over the Internet, phone connection, wireless delivery, fax transmission or postal mail system. A Web server then becomes a paradigm-independent unified server that can supply information to telephone callers and e-mail users as well as Web browser users—all from one low-maintenance database.”        
As is evident from the foregoing, the NetPhonic Web-On-Call Voice Browser therefore allows a telephone user to call-in to a web site and to access data stored in the ‘Unified Information Store’, where that information is also available through the WWW. Therefore, the NetPhonic software would not appear to be a true web browser, in that it does not appear to permit a telephone user to access any web page on the WWW. The NetPhonic software is, in essence, a web server manager, in that it creates a database dedicated to a particular web server and allows telephone and other access to that web server's database. Furthermore, the NetPhonic software does not permit telephone users to create their own web pages, or perform certain other common Internet functions.
In consequence, heretofore it was necessary for a user to purchase, rent, lease or borrow expensive computer equipment, and learn how to use it properly, in order to access and make use of the many capabilities of the Internet. The resultant cost and technical sophistication barriers excluded millions of users from accessing the WWW and other Internet features such as electronic mail (e-mail), electronic publishing, electronic news services, etc.